Sleepless in the Sewers
by CrazyGeekyLove
Summary: After a drunken party night, April calls up the radio station with the hopes of letting New York know that Mikey doesn't have a girlfriend. A Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style fic. Established Apritello.
1. Chapter 1: Pimp my Mikey

Note: I wanted to do something where they're all a bit older, the guys being such stand up role-models wouldn't be underage drinking or anything like that. ;) They're wayyy to hero-like for behavior like that! What would the kiddies think?! So in light of that, we have Karai (Miwa 2012 version) as a close friend of them all, April with a past relationship with Casey and "A Playa Named Raph" with all sorts of girl experience. Lol. I just love messing with Raph. Plus he needs to keep up with Casey somehow and that is by matching exploits naturally.

So this is Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style because I checked if it had been done and it hasn't. So it should. And Mikey should be the leading man, cause everyone else gets more than enough play.

A big thank you goes to **AlexHamato** for Betaing and giving lots of suggestions that I hope I took. _AlexHamato _can also be credited with one of the best OC stories ever that inspired this one. So can _SleepingSeeker_ with her Raph centered fic and _pandasize_ for her setting all the bro's up story which round up my favorites list. And while I'm at it I'd also like to give a shoutout to _The Nerdfighter and DarkUnderworld _for their current OC fics that also rock my socks off. And to _missylynn99 _as she is my co-conspirator on this story.

Summary: After a drunken party night, April calls up the radio station with the hopes of letting New York know that Mikey doesn't have a girlfriend. A Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style fic. Established Apritello.

Disclaimer: No comment.

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...

**Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / [2012 version]  
**

**Sleepless in the Sewers**

**[Chapter 1/ Pimp my Mikey]**

...

There were bottles strewn all around the lair in Splinter's absence - mixers, cider, and beer - but it was rare they got to celebrate like this. Donnie had been pressured into drinking more than he usually would. He'd never drank alcohol but he'd been convinced it was a special occasion this time since they were all together and had the chance to let loose for once. Mikey and Raphael had been trying to match each other drink for drink with April joining in the fun. Karai was around earlier but she got a call from this guy she was supposedly seeing and took off. That just left Leo the only completely sober one left, nursing a beer for the entire night but only faking an interest in the other rambunctious activities.

"You've tuned in to 2 AM Share Hour. The beat of New York City. This is Felicity here and I'm ready to hear your thoughts, just call in and share something with us." The radio droned in the background from Mikey's boom box, the perky voice of the DJ cutting through the haze in April's mind.

April thought this night had been nice, just her and the guys again, like old times. They had other people regularly as part of their escapades now, but tonight with Karai gone and Casey busy, it was just the way it used to be... when it had just been her and Donnie and his brothers. She would always look back fondly on those times, even though there were depressing and even terrifying moments littered throughout those memories.

How much had she drunk again? She couldn't remember keeping track of it. She was just having fun trying to match Mikey's antics and Raph's goading. Between taking swigs of her bottle of halfway-finished vodka mixer, a drink she much preferred over the weak taste of beer, she challenged Mikey to several video game rounds, had a burping competition with Raph where she lost dismally and danced it up with Donnie to the radio. Now she was feeling much less energetic as she just laid there, staring at her boyfriend and trying to think straight. Through all the fun, something was off.

It had been a nacho party. Mikey hid wasabi underneath one of the corn chips, and Leo had been the unfortunate one to bite into it. He quickly darted to the bathroom, scattering chips and salsa in his haste. When he came back he'd tried to compose himself and retain his dignity, and currently sat away from Mikey, sitting by April and Donnie's feet at the foot of the couch in a passive-aggressive show of distaste.

"You okay, April?" The ever-concerned Donnie asked for the twelfth time that night. He was naturally protective of his girlfriend but now he seemed to be even more so, the alcohol had spiked his senses up a notch to the point that he'd likely start hyperventilating if she took too long to answer. April noted to herself that she wouldn't try getting him drunk first if she was going to break up with him, not that she was planning on it. Not if she didn't want all of his paranoia about his relationship with her on show for the world to see.

"Peachy," as well as she basically could be despite Donnie's hyper-concern which was coming off to her more like motherly nagging, "Did you just hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The radio. They were telling people to call. I'm going to call." She rolled to one side and pulled her phone out of her back pocket that she'd been sitting on, checking the screen first that she hadn't butt-dialled anyone.

"Yeah? Gonna share how badly you got beaten at everything tonight?" Raphael asked her with slight amusement. It wasn't fooling April though, she noticed his face crinkle up with a twitch, as if he was in pain from a headache.

"Nope, I'm going to talk about Mikey."

"About his late night snacking tendencies?" Leo asked. At that very moment, Mikey had his hand dipped into a pack of corn chips they hadn't used, mouth bulging with them. April would have assumed he'd already had enough but apparently all the drinks had done nothing to kill his enormous appetite.

She shook her head. "About his loneliness."

Mikey swallowed with one huge gulp. "I'm not lonely," he said with a pout. Of course he'd disagree with that assessment, he'd just had an awesome night hanging with his closest and dearest.

"You're totally,-"she paused with the phone help up to her ear, "wait, they picked up."

The voice on the other end of the phone asked for her details, they sounded irritable, like they were expecting April to be a crank caller who would burst into laughter and hang up the next second.

"That's April O'Neil," she waited as the older guy spelled it back to her. "No, just with one L."

"Is she really serious about this?" Mikey asked the others as April was giving her address over the line. His expression became panicked and his eyes flicked between his brothers.

"Glad it's you and not me," Raphael said nursing his head. He'd been hyper earlier, bounding affectionately on his brothers with Mikey-like energy and giving them playful noogies but now he'd settled down to a placid lull. That was probably a relief for his brothers, it had been weird for them to have Raph complimenting them all night in his slurred tones.

"Welcome to the 2 AM Share Hour. You got something on your mind?" They could hear the voice on the radio say as the song that had been playing cut off abruptly.

"Hi, this is April."

Mikey's mouth hung open as the sound of April's voice on the radio doubled over her own on the phone.

"What's shaking, April?" The DJ's smooth voice came over the phone line and the radio in the room.

"Just chillin' with friends," she smirked, putting her feet up in her boyfriend's lap. He gave her a lopsided grin in response. If she hadn't been talking right now she would have sworn that Donnie would have asked her how she was again and she was suddenly thankful she decided to call the radio station. "Actually, it's one of those friends I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh yeah? What's the scoop on your friend? Depressed? Single? In a rut?"

"Well, sorta. You see he's this really, really great guy-"

"That's debatable," Raph sneered from the stairs, prompting Mikey to leap on him. A wrestling match began that travelled down the stairs and ended with them behind the couch, rolling about on the floor.

"But the thing is that he just uh, hasn't found the one yet..."

Leo rolled his eyes and Donnie snickered. It was the usual teasing that April was used to hearing about Mikey, just in non-verbal form this time. Sure, Mikey was a handful to his brothers but April didn't think he was all that bad. He had the potential to make some girl very happy one day. Not anyone she interacted with on a regular basis, but some girl surely could be made happy by the vibrant, hyperactive turtle.

"It's just that I think the world is missing out on what a great personality he has and it's really a shame."

"Nice personality?" The DJ scoffed, "Yeah, we've all heard that one before."

"No, I'm serious. He um, has a skin condition and doesn't get out much... but he's really adorable and really loves to party and make new friends. It's just a pity he can't go out, y'know, normal places." April caught Mikey's eye. He seemed grateful for her words, like she'd summed up how he himself felt about his circumstances.

"How much has April had to drink?" Leo asked quietly to Donnie, who only shrugged.

"That sounds like a really sad story." DJ Felicity came off all too mocking, but April was too riled up about the injustice of it all to notice.

"Yeah," April pursed her lips. "Well, it's not so bad. He's gotten to do some really great things. Saved the world a few times over," she giggled. If only they knew she was being serious about that factoid. "It's just that he deserves someone special, because he's so special."

Raph snorted as his brother climbed off of him. He brushed himself off and shook his head incredulously. "Yeah he's '_special_' alright."

"Uh huh. So where is this special guy? Is he with you?"

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"Put him on."

April handed over the phone to Mikey, whose eyes grew as round as saucers. He hadn't had as much to drink tonight as April and clearly not enough to warrant this. "Um, hi?" He nervously held the phone out from himself, pinched between two fingers on high alert in case it grew limbs and ran away from him.

"Hi, Felicity here. So we've just heard all about you from your friend. So what's your name, boy?"

"M-Mikey."

"So where you at Mikey?"

"The sewers," he stated plainly. Well, it was true. Raph had stood up in time to slap the back of his head after he said it though. "I mean, not the _sewers_ sewers, just a place that's called _the Sewers_. That's all. It's pretty nasty stuff." Raph hit him again. Wrong answer. "Ow, stop hitting me!"

"Sleepless in the Sewers. I like the sound of that. Like _Sleepless in Seattle_."

"Um, okay."

"Tell me you've seen _Sleepless in Seattle_. EVERYONE has seen _Sleepless in Seattle_. Romantic classic of all time?" She questioned, to see if it rang any bells with him.

Mikey shrugged his shoulders. "So it's a chick flick..."

"Tom Hanks?"

"Like _Big_?" Mikey pondered aloud.

"No, not like _Big_- well, okay, they both had Tom Hanks in it. But Tom Hanks wasn't a kid in a man's body, he was a sensitive widower who-"

"Sounds lame."

"Anyway, so we wanted to get your side of this for the whole night listening audience to hear... clearly you've got a great friend there who cares about you a lot. But what's going on? Never made a love connection?"

_Love connection_? Who talked like that? Radio people, that was who. "Kinda. I mean, a couple of times there were girls who would talk to me and everything... but it never ended up panning out."

Raph shook his head at his brother. This was just pathetic. It was almost too painful for him to watch, even in his inebriated state. He only stuck around because he didn't want to miss a moment of potential blackmail material.

"Wow. She wasn't kidding about you. Never had a girlfriend, Sleepless? Never been kissed?"

"Well, a sorta."

"So with your skin, is there any reason for your lack of intimacy with anyone? Can you be touched normally?"

"Oh yeah, I can!" he exclaimed. He may have been green but he was normalish, compared to some of the mutants they'd come across at least. "But it's not the same."

"The same as?"

Mikey blushed and turned away from everyone. He hadn't meant to say that at all. The same as his brothers and their bonds with certain people. The closest bonds Mikey felt like he'd ever had were with Leatherhead and Klunk, and those certainly weren't the type of bonds he was talking about. "The same as other people," he said quietly, gulping.

"Ah, got a few lovebirds around you then?"

"Well yeah, there's my friend you just spoke to, she's madly in love with my bro. And her ex, who's like one of our very best buds, but he has a lot of girls he's always telling us about. And then we have this sister who's not really our sister, who has this bond with another bro of mine. And then there's my other bro and he's well... he's not seeing anyone right now but he's had two girlfriends before!"

"Wow, _two_... you don't say," said the very amused DJ.

Raph followed Mikey menacingly as he paced across the room. He was trying to get as far from everyone as possible and as far from hearing his own voice over the radio in the room, it really threw him off his vibe.

"You'll pay for spilling that," Raphael told him, but Mikey was ignoring him. He was too focused on his conversation with the radio personality.

"And just between all of them, I don't know, but I'm starting to think that I'll never meet who I'm supposed to be with."

"So we have a romantic." The DJ announced.

"Heh," Mikey chuckled and scratched the back of his scalp, embarrassed.

"So, Mister Romantic, what sort of girl do you think you're supposed to be with?"

"Um." Honestly, he'd never thought to deeply about it before. What was the point of fantasizing about a dream girl when he'd never get to find anyone close to filling that role? He thought of all the best parts of female superheroes from the comics he read, and some of the villains were really super hot, too. What to pick... what to pick... "Well, she'll have to be tough. Like standing up to people... like... like Wonder Woman." She could stand to have Wonder Woman's cleavage, too. "And she'll have to be really fun. Like into games and... and... _prank wars_."

"Great. So you're looking for a superhero with the maturity of a six year old."

But even the DJ's sarcasm didn't deter him, Mikey continued to ride this train of thought all the way to the station. "And she's got to like furry things like cats and dogs and rabbits." And while he was at it, she'd better not be afraid of him either. "And reptiles. Like turtles. Yeah, she's gotta be into turtles." This dream girl he was inventing didn't exist, he had to face that. Especially not the way he was describing her. "And into dancing and good music and pizza and..."

"Are you just listing all the things that you like, Mikey?" The DJ cut in with amusement in her tone.

"Um, sort of..." He felt his face heat up, "is that a bad thing?"

"Don't you want to meet someone with different interests who loves you anyway?"

"Yeah, that'd be great!" He exclaimed but then he realized that all his optimism wasn't getting him anywhere. He had to face facts... to be like Raph (but less of a jerk about it and without the severe chip on his shoulder). "But it's not going to happen."

"Why would you say that?"

"I dunno. Girls can't really see past... the skin," he looked down at his hand dismally. "I can't imagine that any girl ever would."

"Oh, come on _Sleepless_. There are plenty of girls out there who aren't superficial, maybe even some of our 2 AM Chat Hour listeners. If there is anyone out there that really feels like they'll be able to look in to see the real Mikey and love him anyway, contact us at the station. Any time. It was great talking to you Sewer Boy. You take it easy and hold out to some hope. True love will prevail... probably... but what do I know? I'm just the night jockey, on desk to entertain all you night owls out there."

"Thanks, Felicity."

Mikey took the phone away from his eardrum. That was surreal. Talking to someone about his insecurities, kind of like a shrink. He'd always seen it on TV but knew he'd never get the chance to do anything like that, to see someone professionally. Not that he needed to see anyone professionally, only messed up people needed stuff like that, but he had to admit he felt refreshed. (Or maybe he was just sobering up?) Maybe she did know what she was talking about. Maybe there really was a girl out there, _somewhere_.

"What did you just do?" Leo asked April with an amazed shake of his head.

"I just set Mikey up with New York," she said plainly, that smirk still spread across her face.

"New York isn't ready for that," Raph stated and then rounded on Mikey. "And what did YOU just say?"

Mikey didn't even bat an eyelid. "About the two girlfriends? Irma and Mona Lisa. You should know dude, you were with them."

"What?" Raph snapped in reply, getting angry and flustered. "Where the hell did you hear that from?"

"Dude, everyone knew."

"Idiot," Raph was too wasted to consider paying his brother back for that now. "So what are you now Ape? Mikey's pimp or something?"

"Yep," she replied with a jovial laugh, "Want me to pimp you out too Raph?"

"Nah, Raph doesn't need any help." Leo countered, with a mocking tone. "Not with his two girlfriends and all."

A growl emitted from Raph's throat.

Mikey laughed uproariously.

"Alright, Donnie," April pulled her boyfriend up by the arms, but he was heavy and pulling him wasn't doing much good. "I think it's time to go snuggle. You look like you're falling asleep."

"Just a little bit." He pushed himself up and put an arm around April after swaying slightly, inhaling her scent woozily. "Night, everyone."

"He is totally going to get lucky," Mikey pointed out, eliciting another groan from Raph. "What? It's true."

"Yeah, I can see why no girls out there love ya, _Sleepless in the Sewers_." He gave his brother one more rap on the back of his skull before going to bed, thoroughly amused. Watch out New York, Michelangelo wanted a girlfriend.

_..._

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To Close: Watch out New York indeed. What should happen next? Should Mikey troll Raph more about his girlfriends? Or maybe Splinter should do the trolling? Who would you like to see falling for Mikey? Suggest away!


	2. Chapter 2: Love Fools

Note: Again thanks: **AlexHamato** and **missylynn99** who without this wouldn't be possible. Donnie/April fluff was added after suggested by _The Nerdfighter (_though maybe I'll have to make it raunchier in upcoming chapters). I'm not as pessimistic about Apritello becoming an eventually reality in the Nick serious however. It'd be just darn cruel for them to lead us on without any compensation.

And thanks to all other reviewers - you guys rock and feel free to request stuff too!

There's a brief Nickelodeon reference in this and I might try to make a brief Nick reference every chapter, just because it's fun. If you got it, tell me!

Summary: After a drunken party night, April calls up the radio station with the hopes of letting New York know that Mikey doesn't have a girlfriend. A Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style fic. Established Apritello.

Disclaimer: We don't own stuff. It sucks. We deal.

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**Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / [2012 version]  
**

**Sleepless in the Sewers**

**[Chapter 2/ Love Fools]**

...

"So, that's it?" Maddie was questioning her friend, Eliza, "You've stopped dating for good? You're just totally giving up on finding the one?"

Some loose hair fluttered down to the cream-colored carpet of her apartment when she brushed at her cardigan. She was always picking up stray hairs from her job working at the animal shelter downtown. Not only that, she also had the hairs from her own dog who was currently sporting a knitted outfit of its own only much newer than the patchwork disaster that hung from Maddie's shoulders.

Tonight was dubbed 'Girl's Margarita Night' so after a couple of episodes of _Sex in the City_ and finishing off the rest of the slush margarita mix that was in the blender, Maddie and Eliza were sitting in the kitchen discussing love and life. It was rare that the two of them got to get together like this anymore with their busy schedules, so they were making the most of it. The song _Love Fool_ by The Cardigans played in the background as they talked heatedly on one of the few topics the two of them would never agree on.

Eliza frowned at her chubby faced friend and then tilted her head slightly, making her black bob hairstyle shift to one side. "For one, you don't find 'the one' by dating everyone out there on the market and secondly, I don't even think 'the one' exists, Mad. So I think you're all caught up in your fantasy land. There is no perfect person, just people with faults you can deal with and people with faults you can't." And it took a lot of patience sometimes to deal with all of Madeline Crews many faults – case in point: her inability to comprehend how the world worked.

"Settle down, Beatnik," Maddie tried to control the twisting creature in her arms, the hair on its head sticking up in all angles from being patted absentmindedly for the last twenty minutes.

The dog responded happily with a yap in her lap as if it was all a game to try to get away from its owner.

"Anyways," Eliza was saying, "How many bad dates have you had to go on yet to find that your search is completely pointless?"

"They weren't all bad. There was just no connection. No spark. I just believe when you come across that one, that unique one just for you, that you will know. It's instinct. It's a beautiful thing." She grinned wide, almost goofily at the notion.

"It's a beautiful thing that lasts as long as the honeymoon. As the statistics of divorce should be telling you," Eliza drummed her hand on the kitchen counter before picking up the margarita and swilling the contents around and taking a sip.

Maddie took the chance to turn up the radio beside them on the counter. As she lifted her hand off the shaggy Maltese, it saw its opportunity and squirmed right out of her grasp and unto the floor.

An upbeat pop song was ending and the voice of the regular nightly DJ talked over the last few notes. "You've tuned in to 2 AM Share Hour. The beat of New York City. This is Felicity here and I'm ready to hear your thoughts, just call in and share something with us."

"You're seriously listening to this?"

"It's either that or listen to your negativity."

"Oh, ha ha." Eliza took a larger gulp of her drink. "You can't just hear what you want to hear Maddie. It's about time you faced reality, or threw out those rose tinted glasses..."

"So you think I'm pathetic?" She pouted.

"No. You're not. You're optimistic and it's a real mood killer," she turned to her with such a sour face that Maddie had to laugh at the expression.

Maddie picked up her drink too and held it over her lips, contemplating things. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to be a little more grounded in her expectations. She might actually have a chance at a relationship that lasted more than two dates by doing that. But what if Eliza was wrong? What if she took a chance on someone and it was completely the wrong person for her and even worse, it stopped her from discovering who it was she was really truly meant to be with. No, she had to stick on the path she was on, it was working for her.

There was a girl's voice on the radio now, and Maddie took a break from her thoughts to listen into what juicy things they were talking about on the late night call show this time.

_"Actually, it's one of those friends I wanted to talk to you about."_

She listened intently to hear about the guy who seemed to be stuck in the most depressing situation and found herself completely unable to tune it out. It sparked more than her interest, it sparked her concern. At least she could get out there and date, but for the guy being described, he had no way of getting out there and discovering his perfect match. She considered all the dates she'd been on just this year and even though she'd never hit it off with anybody it still had been nice to feel wanted. It still had been nice to have guys that wanted to see her more than once, even if she hadn't been keen.

It just wasn't fair.

"Can you believe this?"

"If you really cared about ugly guys, Maddie, I would have thought you'd date more of them."

Maddie cut her sourpuss friend off. "Shhhhh."

_"Do you want to talk to him?"_

Maddie's breath caught in her throat. _Yes_! Her mind screamed. She was really curious what this guy caught in such an unfortunate situation would sound like, what he'd be like. Would he be bitter about it? Desperate and sad sounding like a heartbroken loner?

_"Um, hi?" _

And then she heard his voice. He sounded like none of those options. He sounded cute. Youthful and yet cautious and very possibly adorable but not at all jilted like she expected him to be.

Maddie mouthed 'hi' as well, it was just like he was talking to her and not this Felicity girl on the radio. It felt like he was talking to her, or knew she was listening, even though there was no way that could be the case. This had to be what Eliza had been talking about. She was delusional.

_Mikey_ from... from the _sewers_? She had to stifle a laugh when he introduced himself. But there was something in the innocence of his tone to make her think that he might not have really been in a place called 'the Sewers' and that it was just a poor cover for the truth. But what on earth would he be doing down in the sewers? That was just bizarre. Maybe he worked down there, that wouldn't be something to be embarrassed about. A job was a job. Or maybe he was just down there as a dare. Or maybe alternatively he was trying to get away from the noise? Or maybe, just maybe it was like Phantom of the Opera where he was creepy hiding away from society.

She almost laughed as the last option crossed her mind. _Yeah, right._

The DJ was really laying into him, trying to get all the right answers. Maddie felt instantly defensive. _Leave the poor guy alone. _It didn't matter how often he'd been kissed or that he had never had a girlfriend. Yeah, it was sad he couldn't go out with anyone. But what about his skin, could he even be touched? What was the nature of his condition?

_"So with your skin, is there any reason for your lack of intimacy with anyone? Can you be touched normally?"_

_"Oh, yeah I can!"_

Maddie shook her head. Even though she'd been curious it just wasn't right to be talking about this on air like he was some kind of freak that needed to be dissected. He seemed to have a lot of brothers. A family guy. That was nice. He was nice. Her heart quickened just thinking about him and the way he sounded - or was it just what she was building him up to be?

_"So it's a chick flick..."_

"How has he NOT seen Sleepless in Seattle?" Eliza broke into the radio discussion, cackling. "Everyone has seen Sleepless in Seattle."

"Well, clearly he has different tastes than everyone else."

"Yeah, the tastes of a five year old."

_"I dunno. Girls can't really see past... the skin, I can't imagine that any girl ever would."_

She put her head down on the counter and stretched her arms out passed both of their glasses, having to contemplate what she'd just heard. This was heartbreaking. She felt these little pangs in her heart that were clearly from empathy.

"Do you think he really is down in the sewers?" She lifted her head and asked her friend, finally.

"Grossly deformed like Quasimodo? Possibly." Though it seemed highly unlikely. Eliza smirked though, tilting her head again to crease the dragon tattoo she sported on her neck.

"Didn't you even slightly care about what he's going through?"

Eliza sighed, "Maddie... this is you trying to fake some feeling for someone you've never even met. This guy is not 'the one' any more than one of the billion first dates you've been on this year."

"I haven't been on a billion first dates."

"Yes, you have. They should make a movie about your life and title it 'A Billion First Dates'."

"I'm going to contact him. I need to speak to him. The station, they probably know how I can get in contact with him, right?"

"Maddie. You're sounding a _little_ on the desperate side. Just forget about him." She took another sip of her drink. "After you've gone to bed and slept all this off, you'll completely forget about whatever fancy has taken over your reason this time."

"No, Liza. I think he's actually the one. He could be. I felt something."

"You forced yourself to feel something. Fine, Maddie. Contact him and while you're at it let him know you're certifiable." Maybe Eliza was being a bit harsh but she had to let her friend know she disapproved. That way when it horribly backfired on her she would be there to say 'I told you so' just like all good friends were there to do. She was just fulfilling her duty - someone had to.

"When have I ever contacted anyone from the radio before?"

"Not since your current dating pool became too sparse for you, apparently."

"Ugh. What do you think, Beatnik?" she asked her dog, who was nuzzling her feet.

He licked her bare leg and Maddie took that as a sign. "That settles it. Beatnik agrees. He's the one," she smirked at her friend defiantly.

"_Certifiable_," Her friend laughed, giving up the fight. It was getting ridiculous, but whatever Maddie wanted to delude herself with was okay by her. Who could it hurt? Eliza had met Maddie in college. They had been put together as dorm mates. Maddie dropped out to work at the shelter and Eliza was still working her way through, with an older and wiser attitude than she had before. Believe it or not, she used to take crap from people – but not anymore. She just wished her younger friend would take on the same attitude.

_This one is for the ladies,_

_That are looking so amazing-_

A song started playing, bass pulsing. Maddie reached out and latched onto Eliza's hand, "Let's dance."

"You're still certifiable," Eliza took in Maddie's appearance and laughed heartily. Bright pink hot-pants, that sweater that was so ugly it didn't even belong in Goodwill, and no shoes. There was no way Maddie would ever get a proper job with the way she presented herself. "And a total dork."

_I want to see you move…_

"Love you too, Liza," Maddie shook out her frizzy, shoulder length, dirty blond hair to the sound of the electronic beats and gave her friend a quick hug before letting the music take over her movements. "We really should do this more often."

"Yeah, see if you still feel that way in the morning. I feel a margarita hangover coming on."

"Always thinking ahead, no wonder you're my best friend."

"I'm your voice of reason," Eliza corrected. Without her who knows what trouble Maddie would be getting into? "But you'd better have aspirin."

Maddie just smirked, throughout everything Eliza was the one constant in her life over the last two years. Pessimist meets optimist, it was a wonder they were friends at all, but it kept things interesting. She could always do with more _interesting_ in her life.

...

"Ugh," she moaned as she slipped back into awareness. Immediately she wished she could just fall back to sleep. Her mouth felt like she'd just swallowed a whole container of cotton balls and her eyes felt like they'd been assaulted with lasers. Her joints cracked and popped as she stretched out, attempting to rid herself of the awful ache in her body.

Her head throbbed with a pulsing pain from her migraine. "Are you up already?" Donnie's voice bounced around in her skull, painfully loud.

"Yes." She winced even though the light streaming in the room was minimal, being in the sewers and all.

Donnie strolled through the doorway and asked, "Hung over?"

She simply nodded. Words were too much energy and she was afraid they'd just get stuck in her throat.

"I assumed you would be. I told you that you shouldn't have tried to keep up with their drinking."

The last thing she needed was a lecture right now and if Donnie knew anything, it was how to give a good lecture when he was in the right. "Well, I didn't listen, did I?"

"Nope. It's simple really, the ethanol gets carried through your blood stream and is carried to your brain, it then affects the brain's circuitry and-"

April put two fingers up to Donnie's lips, silencing him. He took her hand in his and bent down to nuzzle her neck with his lips. She giggled. Her neck was her ticklish spot.

Placing a chaste kiss where her jaw and neck met, he whispered, "I'm going to go get you some Tylenol and breakfast in bed. Sound like a deal?"

"You're the best, Donnie." She murmured before her heavy eyelids slipped shut again in sleep.

Donnie took a step out of his room, grinning to himself as he went to the cupboard in the kitchen that held the cereal. Yeah, last night was pretty great. It turned out that April's pride was fueled by helping out Mikey with his 'love crisis' and thus decided she would reward her boyfriend too. He certainly didn't complain about it.

He'd been slightly tipsy but he was more concerned for her well-being. He was hoping that her drinking didn't have any negative side effects - like being uninhibited enough to flash his brothers or to try to take advantage of him while everyone else was present. Not that April was a particularly 'slutty' drunk, but they so rarely drank alcohol that he really didn't know what he was getting into. It wasn't like they were holding sewer keggers every second weekend and even if his other brothers were keen on the idea, Splinter and Leo would soon put a stop to it.

Speaking of which. "You seem to be in a quite elated mood this morning, Donatello." Splinter was back.

"Oh, I am?" Donnie covered with a quick grin, "I hadn't noticed." He grabbed a box of Lucky Charms and set it on the counter.

"Did April enjoy herself last night?"

_Busted_. She enjoyed herself a little too much. You couldn't keep anything from his rodent father. Images of her on top of him, hands firm on his plastron, dipping to kiss all over his face swarmed him. He found it hard not to betray any reaction when he was getting all hot under the shell at the memories of last night. "Yeah, she was having a lot of fun with Mikey and Raph. It was good."

Splinter appraised him before nodding, "Yes, you will have to tell Mikey that it's his duty to clean the recreation area when he wakes up."

Donatello was stunned. _The guys didn't clean up after themselves?_ Trust his brothers to just leave everything like that. "I will." He took the time now to race out from the kitchen and see what was still left out there from last night.

Apparently _everything_ was still left out from last night. And there Mikey was too, on his shell in the middle of the floor with bottles and corn chips all around him, a little drool coming out the side of his mouth as he snored quietly. This was the guy April wanted to get a girlfriend for? There was a reason why he and his brothers picked on Mikey, and thanks to him they were all _so, so busted_.

Donatello walked over and nudged his younger brother with his foot.

"Mmmhrph," he mumbled and his hands shot out groping around blindly with his eyes still closed.

Donnie heaved a sigh and went back to the kitchen. _Wasn't Raph supposed to be keeping Mikey in line? Or Leo? What had even happened last night after he and April…?_ Donnie didn't need to finish that line of thought, he just chuckled to himself, feeling very pleased about that part of the night at least. He was lucky Master Splinter was no longer there to read his mind because he was pretty sure it was written all over his face how much April rocked his world last night. Donnie got to work preparing everything carefully, setting it all on a tray to bring in to his girlfriend. It was the least he could do to pay her back for… _y'know_… all _that_.

He returned to April, balancing her cereal, water, and pain medication all on the tray. Hydrating and getting some sugar back into her blood steam would help to get her recovered sooner.

She had managed to sit up a little, with a pillow helping to prop her up. She smiled weakly. "And what is the gourmet breakfast of the day?"

"Cereal and water, with a side of pain medication." He set the tray in her lap. "Sorry it's not-"

"It's fine," April cut him off, all too used to his comments like nothing he did was ever good enough for her, "Are the others up yet?"

"No, they're all too hung over to even think about moving yet. They do such stupid things when drunk."

"But Casey did the best thing ever to me when he was drunk; he dumped me." Actually it was mostly mutual. It had been coming for some time but it took that extra push for Casey to call it off for good. It ended pretty well for a break-up since it was only the next night that they were out together side by side doing research for one of the turtle's missions.

"And that's still stupid, but I'm glad he did, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to take you out to Murakami's shop the next week, and ask you to officially be my girlfriend."

With a nostalgic smile, she said. "Things that don't seem to go together can actually make a great couple."

He smiled back at her tenderly, he was just glad that Master Splinter and the guys had forced him into making a move. "They sure do. Now eat and take you're medication, I'll be back. Just holler if you need me."

"Where are you going?"

"To force Mikey to do some cleaning up, _force _being the operative word."

April chuckled as Donnie disappeared out of the room. Mikey had no idea what was about to hit him (_hit_ probably being the operative word).

_..._

* * *

To Close: Eliza and Maddie will become better known in the future, so keep reading. I'm also considering having some serious Leo/Karai interaction next chapter. Who else is keen? *raises hand* Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3: Into the Night

Note: Thanks to **AlexHamato** (even though I didn't take all your advice because I'd been sitting on this for too long) and **missylynn99** (who pretty much set up the last bit of this chapter). This chapter is heavy on a backstory (sometimes assumed) of what I think might happen in the last season of TMNT 2k12. Some people may think Leo/Karai is semi-incestual now we know she is Miwa, but I think that's silly. They're like ADOPTED brothers because Splinter you know... pretty much adopted them. ;)

Summary: After a drunken party night, April calls up the radio station with the hopes of letting New York know that Mikey doesn't have a girlfriend. A Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style fic. Established Apritello.

Disclaimer: We don't own stuff. It sucks. We deal.

* * *

...

**Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / [2012 version]  
**

**Sleepless in the Sewers**

**[Chapter 3/ Into the Night]**

...

It was a week later and Casey was sitting around with Mikey playing video games while being filled in on everything he missed from that night. "You shoulda been there Case. And Raph was all like _'Mikey, I never tell you this but you inspire us all_' and I was like '_woah_' and Raph was like _'I've always liked you best little bro_' and then he was calling me the King of all Pranks. Actually, come to think of it... I kinda wish he was drunk more often."

"You think that's bad? You should have seen the last time we were wasted. He was all _'my bros don't understand me man, you're the only one who understands me'_," Casey started laughing, mimicking gripping Mikey in a drunken hug. "'_I wish you were my bro'_," he brushed away a fake tear. "Raph is the biggest pussy ever when he's drunk."

Mikey was laughing along with him. "Woah, that's crazy stuff. How come you've never told us this before?"

"Are you kidding? And just be asking for him to pound my ass?"

Mikey's mouth drew into an 'O' shape and he stopped laughing. "Dude, that did not sound good," he nudged Casey in the ribs with a giant elbow, "So that's what you guys get up to when you go on your night watching together. _'Oh Raphie, pound my ass. Pound my ass good._'" He tried and failed abysmally to mimic Casey's voice and Casey was not impressed. The twenty-three year old threw an arm around Mikey to get him into a tight headlock, waiting for lack of oxygen to kick in or for Mikey to cry mercy - whichever one happened first.

"Case-ack! Uncle! UNCLE!"

"You guys are really lucky Raph is in the dojo right now." April, who had been watching their behavior from afar when she came from Donnie's lab, finally spoke.

"Right," Mikey nodded sticking a finger up in the air, "wouldn't want an ass pounding."

Casey raised a fist to the turtle again, but was cut off by April plonking her computer down into Michelangelo's lap.

"She's the one," April exclaimed, pointing to the screen. She'd gotten a whole bunch of emails redirected to her address from the radio station. There were about sixteen in total and not all of them were from girls willing to date Mikey, some were downright creepy, and probably not actually from girls, but there was one that stood out among the rest.

"She what?" Mikey had just wanted to go back to the video game they'd been playing, but now had a new distraction. He swiveled his head around to get a look at April. Her appearance was slightly disheveled and she had a smirk on her face. Something told him that his brother had just had his hands more on April than the equipment he was using to fix Casey's bike. _Hot_ _Damn, were they always at it like that?_

"This girl right here. She works at an animal shelter and she says she'd just been waiting to feel a connection with somebody and she thinks she did with you."

Casey leaned over Mikey's shoulder, eyes flicking over the words on the computer briefly. "Na-uh April. You can't be serious about setting Mikey up with someone from the radio."

"And why not?"

He really had to explain this? They'd known each other for years and it was well established why the turtles didn't make themselves known to the outside world. "For the same reason he doesn't go on internet dating sites."

"Hey! Guys, I'm right here," Mikey said with a frown. He wasn't deaf, or desperate. Besides, he could make his own mind up whether or not he wanted to talk to any girls.

"Look Casey, I've got this under control. And Donnie thinks it's a great idea." Actually he didn't say anything about it being a good idea, but by reason of him being her boyfriend he had to agree with her. That was just how it worked. And he'd better agree with her about this or else he had another thing coming.

"Pfft. Yeah, like he's gonna say any different, he's always been wrapped around your little finger."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She knew exactly what it meant, but she just wanted an excuse to fight with him about it. She hoped he wasn't insinuating that she was with Donnie now just because Donnie didn't pick fights with her and was generally agreeable.

"Exactly what I said. You're just happy with anyone who doesn't disagree with you."

"You know what, Casey?" she said, raising a threatening finger to him, "I'm happy with anyone that doesn't have to act like an ass twenty-four seven. I'm happy with that."

"Oh come off it, Ape. Acting like an ass has always been one of my most redeeming qualities," he grinned his charmingly, roguish grin at her. It didn't melt her into a puddle anymore, so that wasn't a good thing, instead it just made her eye twitch with irritation. "You know that, babe."

"Okay you two, break it up," Leonardo was heard coming down the stairs with a quick glance between the two of them. Mikey never thought to stop them bickering but Leo didn't want anything to escalate. Sometimes April and Casey worked well together and they still remained friends post break-up, but then there were other times where Casey made cheap digs at Donnie and April, clearly wanted to sock it to him. Usually one of the turtle brothers were around to mediate them, but when they weren't, Leo shuddered to think of how long they could go on sniping at each other like that.

"You're not setting Mikey up with anyone, April. We've talked about it."

Mikey blinked a couple of times, not comprehending. "We have?"

"Not you," Leo corrected quickly. "The rest of us have. And we think it's a bad idea."

"Hey, I wasn't even invited to a meeting about my life?"

"We have meetings about you all the time, Mikey. It was nothing new." Every time Mikey was breaking something, or potentially getting in the way they had to get together and discuss what was to be done about the littlest brother. That was just common sense.

Mikey huffed and shifted the notebook computer on his lap, reading through the letter slowly while the others talked about him like he wasn't even there.

"Anyway, the three of us agree that it would be too compromising to put Mikey out there like that. Even with the Shredder gone back to Japan in a severely immobile state, we can't risk one of our other enemies using the information this girl would have. And plus, who would know if we'd be able to trust her. She could have just been writing in because it was painfully obvious that it was Michelangelo on the radio that night. He didn't exactly keep much about himself hidden." Leo was, of course, referencing the offhand sewer mention that Mikey was stupid enough to let loose.

Mikey himself was starting to smile big and wide, completely blocking out his brother's determination on the situation. "Hey, this girl is awesome. April was right!"

"Wait, what? Were you just listening, Mikey?"

"Just listening to the sound of the girl of my dreams while she narrated this letter for me in my head."

"See? I was right. It'd be good for Mikey. She's perfect."

"Ugh. April. I just told you, it would be too big of a risk."

Casey stretched his feet out in front of him, sticking his hands behind his head in a show of nonchalance. "Just let the Terrapin Matchmaker have her fun. If it turns out she's evil, it'll just give us something to do. It's been a while since we've had to protect Mikey from being beaten up by a girl."

"Hey, that's never happened!" Mikey countered swiftly with a blush on his cheeks. "Well, okay, a few times it happened- but those were like, alien chicks so that doesn't count."

"It's not the being beaten up that we're worried about, we don't really care who beats up Mikey - "

"Hey!" said Mikey again, affronted.

" - We're more concerned about the whole 'exposing our secret to the world' part."

"Oh," Casey thought about how he could help with that. "Want me to threaten any potential dates?"

"Oh yeah, because being threatened by an oaf of a pal of his is going to make for a great icebreaker," April told him, "_'Hey, how are you doing? Sorry my friend threatened your life. Entree_?'" April crossed her arms and settled down on the couch. Sitting by her side was Casey, who she glanced at crossly from the corner of her eye.

"Well, as great as this has been- how long is Splinter going to be in there with Karai? Cause I really need to see him."

"Why do you need to see him?"

"Not really your beeswax, O'Neil."

"They should be out soon." The muscles in Leonardo's face tightened. It was no secret that he wanted to see Karai as well, but she had been stealthily ignoring him. There was something going on but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Master Splinter was hiding something too and when it came to it being something about Karai, he was more than concerned than ever about what it could be. "I mean, they couldn't possibly stay in there all day."

"Dude, she's his daughter. They're probably busy having daddy-daughter bonding time just like she used to have with the Shredder. Maybe he's even organizing an arranged marriage for her."

"Mikey, there isn't a long list of people that Splinter knows to arrange her to be married to." Leonardo knew he was wasting his breath explaining the ludicrousness of that suggestion to his brother and now he wanted talk of Karai and any indication towards marital relationships to stop immediately.

"Maybe the arranged marriage is to you, dude."

"Cut it out, Mikey."

"No, I'm serious. He knows you like her. You've told everyone on more than one occasion. What if he's decided to cut you a break?"

"It's not an arranged marriage," April finally told them, narrowing her eyes.

"It's not? What do you know?"

"She knows what I've told her," Karai's voice cut through their speculations like a knife and everyone turned to stare at her. Karai was less of an enigma now than she used to be, but she still liked to keep parts of herself private. Normally, she didn't stick around the lair for long. If she was training or hanging out with the others, she'd always make a point to leave first and give very little details about where she was going.

"But since you're all here," she glanced around. Donnie and Raph were absent, but it was no great loss, they'd never been high on her list of favorite turtles. She shrugged, "almost all here, I may as well come out with it. I'm going back to Japan."

Leonardo didn't care that everyone else was there to witness his reaction, he wasn't going to compose himself after getting a shock like that. "What?" He couldn't believe Splinter would agree to that! _What was he thinking?_ Leo himself had spent a year overseas and now just when he was trying to make up for lost time, Karai was going away? There had to be a reason. He was actually afraid that he knew the reason. He just didn't want her to say it.

Karai flicked her wrist back, as if casually dismissing his overreaction to the news. "I may have previously cut all ties with my - with the Shredder, but I'm needed there. Really, I'm surprised you didn't see this coming."

And there she said it. She was going for _him_. She was going to embrace the Shredder's legacy again, and Splinter was pushing her into it. Leonardo was left stuttering like a fool. "I - How was I supposed to? You're just going to leave us? You're family now Karai and our father - "

"Thinks it's best if I go. Leonardo, everything isn't as black and white as you see it," her lips curled into a small smile, "even after all this time you still don't get that."

Mikey and Casey exchanged a look between them while April took her computer back from Mikey and clicked the 'reply' button at the top of the email.

"That's not fair, Karai. I think I've understood plenty about the way you work."

"If you understood so much than you would have seen this coming."

"How was I supposed to see this coming? You don't talk to me about anything and then you just expect that I'll read your mind? That one minute you'd be training with us and looking like you're going to join us and then the next you're deciding to split?"

"I was never one of you."

"You were always welcome to be, that was your own choice," his voice was strained now, feeling defeated. "So don't you dare act like we didn't want you here."

Karai didn't have anything else to say. "Sorry," was all that came out, but anyone in the vicinity could tell it wasn't a genuine apology.

"In other news, Mikey, that girl now has your number." April attempted to change the subject, and give Leo and Karai a bit of alone time.

Mikey's attention was returned to the letter from the girl, and he leaned over to look at the screen again, missing seeing the tears of frustration brimming in Leo's eyes.

"I just don't get it. I thought we had something," he whispered feeling less concerned about who heard his desperation. It wasn't like his whole world was crumbling, but part of it was and that was part that he wanted to keep intact. He'd waited for Karai to join their side for so long and then she did make the right choice, but now it was like two giant steps back again.

Karai's face softened just a bit and said, "Come on. Let's talk about it in private."

Leo reluctantly nodded and followed Karai away from everyone else, an ache building in his chest that he wasn't sure how to remove.

...

They were perched on top of a building, looking out over the city. It had been their favorite spot to meet before Shredder was defeated, back when she was having so much turmoil about accepting who she was. It had been years following when she first met the turtles. When it was revealed to her that she was really the daughter of Hamato Yoshi she was conflicted with the information. Her loyalties wavered and when it came down to the crunch she joined the side against her "father", against the Shredder. Ever since she'd been an occasional ally and friend to them all, even April O'Neil who she felt now she could speak to at ease. All the casual flirting with Leo before she found out the truth fizzled but she relied on him the most before that fatal moment of changing loyalties. It hadn't been easy but Leonardo helped guide her through it all, though she'd never thanked him. She wasn't even going to thank him now, but he knew what he'd done for her. He had to.

"You don't have to - "

Karai cut him off. "You're not going to change my mind, Leo, so don't even try."

He fell silent, and waited for her to say what she wanted.

After a deep sigh, she tapped her fingers on the cement perimeter in front of them. "Listen, Leo. We did have something, but that something wasn't strong enough. It was infatuation, and under horrible circumstances. If this were a different time, and a different place, it might have been something great, but it's not. Even though I'm Yoshi's daughter, everyone still thinks of me as the girl who helped Shredder, and I don't think that they'll ever be able to truly see past that. I'm not sure if even Splinter truly can. It's easier and better for me to leave."

"But I still see you as the good person you are," he murmured.

She chuckled humorlessly. "Leo, I'm far from good. Things aren't always black and white, like you seem to think. You are light, like an off-white or a cream, I'm more of a storm-cloud grey. We are so different."

"But opposites attract." _In movies_. What was he thinking? Was he feeding her some kind of line? That sounded much better in his head, now he just felt like banging his head against the wall behind them. The pressure of being around Karai often turned his brain to, well, something more like Mikey.

"Look how well that turned out for April and Casey."

He was silent once again. April and Casey were polar opposites, and while they had a passionate romance, it was short-lived and died a fiery death. But they weren't April and Casey, not even close. He had a solid foundation with Karai. He knew she didn't like to be called Miwa and he never pressured her to be anything other than what she was, than the potential he saw in her. "You know we're not April and Casey."

She just shrugged.

"So you're going to go and help him again? You're just going to run back to everything you've turned from?" That judgmental tone was rising in his voice again. That was the worst part. He could handle her rejecting him on a personal level. She'd done that when she decided she wanted to see other people outside of their little family and their allies. When she decided she needed the separation of a whole other social life. He'd accepted that. What he couldn't handle was her demolishing all the progress that he'd thought they'd made.

"Yeah, like he's a real threat any more. He's barely alive." Shredder made all the wrong choices and his commitment to his vendetta ended up with him falling to his near death. He was shipped back to Japan to be taken care of there, but no one expected him to recover. "But yeah, I've got to be there. It's called _honor_, Leonardo. I thought you more than anyone would get that."

He put a hand on her shoulder, eyes softening to the point that they crinkled at the sides. She relaxed at his touch, melding into the back of his arm. She breathed out to the cold night air, unaware that she'd forgotten to breathe normally when his skin made contact with hers.

"Will you come back?"

He sounded so desperate and pleading and the hammering of her heart was picking up. She fully intended to, but she hadn't fully intended on letting him in on that fact. She would probably just show up some time out of nowhere, teasingly announcing she was back and eliciting that stunned reaction she always liked from Leonardo.

"You're cute."

"You're not answering me."

"Who knows?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

She turned right around and placed her arms around his neck, bringing her face close to his. "You were always my favorite."

His big, bulky hands rested on her hips, a little more awkwardly than he would have liked but there was nothing he could do about that. He pulled her closer to him. It was almost like their goodbye hug. Painful but necessary. "Then you'd better not take too long over there."

She just enjoyed the feeling of him holding her, it made her content. She was just going to keep running away from what made her happy, because it wasn't easy for her to let down her guard. She would miss Hamato Yoshi who had just started feeling like a real father to her. She would miss Leonardo who managed to wriggle his way into her heart despite all her efforts to keep him at a distance. She'd even probably miss those other idiots that he called brothers.

"It'll take as long as it will take."

Her mouth hovered over his, briefly playing with the notion of kissing him. But what good would that do either one of them? She would be gone in a day or so. She pushed away from him and gave him a quick look from over her shoulder. "Don't forget about me."

With that, she slipped away into the night, leaving him alone.

"Never." It was a ghost of a whisper when it left his mouth. Once again everything was set to change for them. He only hoped Master Splinter was right by sending her away.

_..._

* * *

To Close: More Mikey up next. Woo!


	4. Chapter 4: Over the Line

Note: **missylynn99** wrote up Eliza's backstory. Sorry for the lack of updates, no beta and I've been working on other stuff. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: After a drunken party night, April calls up the radio station with the hopes of letting New York know that Mikey doesn't have a girlfriend. A Sleepless in Seattle turtle-style fic. Established Apritello.

Disclaimer: We don't own stuff. It sucks. We deal.

* * *

...

**Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / [2012 version]  
**

**Sleepless in the Sewers**

**[Chapter 4/ Over the Line]**

...

"I got his number," Madeline squealed to Eliza later on grabbing Eliza's leather jacket between her fingers and yanking on it in her excitement. They were going to meet up for coffee, over a week after their big margarita night. They were weaving through crowds on the busy NYC streets and Maddie was bounding along making it seem as if she'd already had 10 cups of coffee.

"Okay, settle down, Crazy," Eliza grabbed her hand and pushed her away with a gentle laugh.

Crazy was only the half of it. Maddie didn't know what she was getting in for. When she had told her she had written a letter for the guy that she heard on the radio she thought it was bad enough... but now she was going to call him? Who knew what this guy was like? He could have more than just that skin condition that deterred girls from liking him. And what if he was contagious? There were just too many unknown factors.

But more than all that, she just didn't want to see her best friend crushed like she had been. Whether she would admit it out loud or not, Maddie was definitely her best friend. She remembered when they first met in college. They had been put together as dorm mates, but Eliza had been a different person back then. Young, hopeful, and naïve, _oh so foolishly naïve_.

Maddie, was a perpetually happy person, and still remained that way. She may have flitted around, dating guy after guy, week after week; but she never became emotionally attached to one. It was better for her that way, she couldn't get hurt like that. The moment you start caring, is the moment you place your heart in a stranger's hands, and it becomes theirs to mangle and ravage as they choose. She knew all too well how caring gave someone the power to shatter you, knew it in every piece of her empty heart.

…

Eliza refused to even think his name, but it would forever be a ghost upon her lips. Tall, suave, and light, with a talent for wooing the ladies. He had made her feel special, for a while. He could have wrapped any girl on campus around his finger, but chose her. They dated for a while, and she was blissfully ignorant all the while. Things moved quickly and she gave him everything she had to offer, her heart, her body, and her spirit.

She found out in absolutely the worst way possible. He hadn't been acting right for over a month, and she was starting to get worried. So she decided to go and visit him at his dorm room. She was surprised when the door was unlocked; he almost always had it dead bolted, because he had told her he was always paranoid about being broken into_. Is that what happened? Is he alright?_ had been her racing thoughts in a flurry of concern, but she was so far off from the truth.

She had frozen when she heard a giggle come from his room. Then a high pitched, feminine voice squealed, "Has she found anything out yet?"

To her absolute horror, it was his voice that replied back. "Not a thing."

"How long have you been leading her on?" the voice giggled again.

"Almost a year now, and she trusts me completely."

"That's my boyfriend," the voice purred, "What else do you have to do before you've completed the bet?"

"Get her pregnant," He responded almost lazily, "Then I can be done with her for good."

"How much are the guys paying you to do this?"

"Five thousand dollars. That billionaire's son really gets a kick out of it. Why else would I stoop so low?"

That's about when the tears started, running in torrents down her cheeks, and washing away what positivity that she had with it. He had been like the sun to her, and now her sun had imploded, rending her heart into a billion, dust sized pieces along with it.

A shriek had ripped from her throat, breaking the silence and echoing in the small dorm. "I'm not clueless anymore, am I?!"

His voice was like honey when he responded, "Oh baby, we weren't talking about you. We were practicing a scene for a play. Do you want to come and meet my cousin Alyssa? She's majoring in theater."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted it so badly it physically hurt, so, she took the easy way out. She tried to pull herself together and faked a smile. Hesitantly, she went to his room where she had heard them talking.

Alyssa happened to be gorgeous, with platinum blonde hair and clear green eyes. "I'm so excited to meet you! I've been told all about you. Sounds to me like you're a keeper."

Still feeling weary, she muttered, "Nice to meet you, too."

"Now that you girls have been introduced, Eliza, why don't you go and get ready for class? I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

"Alright." She made an effort to be cheerful, but her heart wasn't in it. Something still didn't feel right.

Her classes came and passed, and soon it was lunch. Scanning the crowd, she found him. He was sitting next across from his cousin. Sneaking up on him, she attempted to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned away from her. Feeling hurt, she had sat next to him, but it seemed as if she wasn't there, no matter how many times she tried to involve herself in the conversation.

Finally, at the end of lunch, she left to head back to her dorm, hurt and neglected. She wasn't home for very long before there was a knock. She opened the door gratefully, thinking it was him, coming to apologize for treating her so coldly. She was wrong.

A group of guys, who had obviously been drinking, were clustered around her door. One snatched her wrist and pulled her out ide, while another slammed her door shut.

The one who had her wrist then pinned both of her arms above her head, against the wall.

"Lookie who we have here," He cackled in a drunken slur.

She thrashed under his grip, but it was no use. "Let me go!" She hissed.

"She's a feisty one. I don't know why he puts up with her; she's not worth five thousand dollars." Someone else chortled.

"What?" Her rage was temporarily diminished.

"She's stupid, too. Don't you know the only reason he's with you is 'cause of a bet?"

That's when her world had officially came crashing down around her. She'd been betrayed in the ultimate way, cheated on, lied to, then she would have soon been tossed aside. Regaining her senses, she slammed her knee upward into the man's groin, causing him to loosen his grip. She took off running, and waited in the art room before she was sure that the group had left.

Once she returned back to her room, she couldn't help but sit and cry. She'd been so stupid. She had caught him, but his charming, suave persona had convinced her otherwise. At least she would make sure that he didn't get five thousand from her. Maddie had come back to see her in her heartbroken state and made an attempt to console her, but couldn't truly empathize because her fragile, soft heart had never experienced such trauma. She hadn't either, not until then.

…

They had mutually agreed to change all of the locks, and she rescheduled any classes she had with him to different times. She hadn't spoken to or seen him since nor had she dated anyone else. She'd learned her lesson; looks, charm, and flattery are all traits of a heart breaker, and she couldn't stop herself from finding them in most guys.

She would never wish her state upon anyone, especially not her closest friend. Love was too risky, and not worth the painful repercussions. She wouldn't be able to talk Maddie out of it, though. She could just only hope this one would be like the countless others that Maddie had tried.

"So I was thinking I'd try to call him tonight," Maddie was jabbering on while Eliza blinked back all her bad memories. She spotted their regular coffee joint up ahead.

"And what?"

"And tell him that I think it's terrible what he's going through."

"And then build yourself up for when you finally go on a date with him and realize you don't like him."

"What if I really, really like him?"

Eliza groaned a long drawn out groan for emphasis, "That's even worse."

Maddie just shook her head, smirking jubilantly as they entered the shop, "I've gotta give up the dating scene some time, 'Liza. It's getting draining."

"Nobody told you to date half of New York," Eliza said, as they both stepped into the line to order. The guy in front of them heard the comment and turned briefly to look at them and Eliza glared right back. "That wasn't an invitation for a date," she told him, waving her hand at him to tell him to turn back around.

"You're not happy no matter what I do Liza. If I keep dating around, if I call this guy. What do you want me to do?"

Eliza tilted her head to think on it for a moment. "Join the nunnery."

"You first my paranoid friend, you first."

Eliza stared at the menu thoughtfully, if it kept Maddie from getting her heart broken, it would almost be worth it.

...

A kick went over his head as he realized his t-phone was ringing. With a blow from his nunchuks, he knocked the robber to the ground and managed to answer his phone with his free hand.

"Yello," His perky voice was a little strained as he answered. He should really be helping his brothers out, but the phone call might be important so he decided to let his brothers handle the other guys that decided tonight was a good night to knock off a jewelry store.

"Hi? Is this Mikey?"

"At your service," he said grinning broadly.

She chuckled nervously, "Hi, this is Maddie. I'm one of the girls who sent you an e-mail. April gave me your number. I hope this isn't a bad time."

It was a bad time, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her that. He'd been waiting to actually hear from her, and this was _way_ better than just re-reading the e-mail she had sent. This time he could actually hear what she sounded like. It was nice.

Another guy came running at him, and a quick elbowing sent him flying towards Raph - he'd deal with him. Mikey had more important things to do now.

"Mikey get off the phone!" Donatello yelled, spinning his bo at a desperate pace. Clearly not everyone in Mikey's family understood what important business he had to attend to right now apparently though.

He ignored his brother. _He could multi-task! _ He'd been doing this for years and if any of them could multi-task - he certainly could too! Besides, Donnie was always answering if it was April that rung and managing to talk to her. "No, it's fine. So... How are you?"

"Good! You're so sweet. How are you doing, with the skin in all?"

The skin? That was a weird thing to bring up. But then he remembered back to bits of that hazy night. April was saying that's why he'd never had a girlfriend right? So that was probably why she thought it was so important. He'd have to correct her on that one. "It doesn't really bother me, but it just kinda makes me look really, really different than other people."

"Is it contagious, or something?"

He couldn't help but chuckle. He was definitely not contagious. "No, it was... something I was born with. Like I said, it just makes me look really different."

"Well that's stupid. Why would someone judge you for something you were born with?"

"I don't know," he responded. He'd always been honestly more confused about it than his brothers were. It took him a while to catch on that he couldn't just approach humans, but he had more faith in humanity than they did. Of course there were some people out there that would overlook it like April and Casey and they weren't meeting those _some_ people by not putting themselves out there!

"Well, I wouldn't judge you because of how you looked. Like my mamma always said 'Don't judge a book by its cover, judge it by its content.' She always thought personality was the most important."

He stood there for a moment, smiling stupidly with the phone against his ear, even as another robber came for him. He managed to snap back to his senses in time to kick the guy's feet out from under him, and knock him down.

"Sorry about that," With a quick glance around, he realized everyone else was finishing up. What he hadn't noticed until just now was the guy he'd just knocked down get back up again and make a start toward him. He knew he'd better think fast. "Can you call back? I swear it'll be just after I- DUDE! Not cool!" He yelled after his phone was batted out of his hand by the guy he knocked down. It was probably deserved, but it still wasn't cool!

Mikey glared at him, a nunchuck on the offensive to take him down again. "That was a _girl _you jerkoff. You did not just make my 'nice' list."

He knew that later he'd have to deal with Leo and his 'we-can-always-improve-don't-get-cocky' speech or perhaps his 'don't let the team down' speech (those were the worst!). As for now, he had to get this guy back for ruining his first conversation with the girl he'd met from the radio.

...

"Come on Donnie," Michelangelo tapped his large green fingers on Donnie's workbench later.

"I'm working as fast as I can."

"It was a girl, it was _the_ girl. You've got to work harder."

Donnie glared at him. He didn't like being told to work harder by Mikey of all people – turtles. That silenced the youngest brother. Mikey watched as Donnie took the phone apart and tinkered with the insides. Normally he'd be trying to touch one of the wires but this time he was too preoccupied with the fact that Maddie might call back at any second and he still didn't have a working phone. The fates were working against him… as usual, and Donnie wasn't making things any easier.

"Come onnnnnnnnnn dude! She could be calling right now!"

"I don't exist to facilitate your love life Michelangelo," Donnie replied without even looking up from his work.

"You don't what now?"

Donnie heaved a heavy sigh, "I'll be done in twenty minutes, just go bother Leo or something."

Mikey saluted and started for the door. "Gotcha!"

…

It actually took closer to thirty minutes longer but Mikey didn't complain, he was just glad to be connected again. It was always good to have the T-Phones and all but it wasn't like they got a lot of phone calls, so Mikey hadn't cared that overly much until now. Now he understood why April was always checking her phone. It was important when you had a bunch of people that could be calling at any second!

It went an hour with no activity and then it rang and Mikey was quick to pick it up. He heard her straight away.

"Hi. Is this a better time?" Maddie asked tentatively, in a hushed whisper.

His heart leapt into his throat and he attempted to answer and sound casual at the same time, "Yeah, much better. Sorry about all that."

"It's cool. I'm Maddie by the way, short for Madeline. So um, your name is short for Michael?"

"You're real close. It's Michelangelo. Yeah," he shrugged even though she couldn't see him and then laid down on his bed, kicking his legs out, "It's kind of a mouthful."

"No, it's totally nice. Different. So about before?"

He realized that he'd have to explain what just happened, but telling her about the whole vigilante behavior of beating up jewelry store thieves was probably not ideal. "Oh yeah. Me and my bros, we've kinda got this martial arts thing going on. Ninjitsu. You know, dojo and um, training and all of that. It gets pretty intense."

"So I had caught you at a bad time."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "You could say that." He felt suddenly shy which was rare for him. Anyone who knew him would say that he never stopped talking and now suddenly he was at a loss, trying to think of things to say but coming up blank.

Madeline decided to fill in the silence before it got awkward. "Hey I'm sorry for what they did to you on the radio that night. Probing into all your personal life and all that. It was pretty rude."

"I didn't mind it. It's not like I have anything to hide," except for being a mutant turtle and all that. "It was kinda cool, I mean to talk about it. It doesn't usually come up in conversation - stuff about um, girls and stuff."

"Yeah, that was quite a description of the perfect girl that you had there. Wonder Woman huh?"

Mikey chuckled. "What can I say? I like my ladies to be able to beat bad guys to a pulp. But you know, it's okay if they can't, I mean if you can't-" yes, there was such a thing as coming on too strong and he was teetering close to that line. "I mean if they... you know what I mean."

"I can hold my own against a room of stray animals if that counts."

"Hmmm," he pretended to think about it. "Well it's no Wonder Woman show of immense strength but I guess it'll have to do."

"I could totally protect you if your muggers were raccoons."

"Killer raccoons. That would actually be a new one."

"Nah, just raccoons that have figured out the monetary value of their favorite foods."

"Maybe we can show them a different way to mugging - they could beg or busk. I'd be all over giving a raccoon money if it wanted it."

Madeline laughed. "Plus I'd love to see a raccoon playing the guitar."

"You'd better not be underestimating those raccoons, they're probably badass at the guitar."

"I have never underestimated raccoons in my life. I'd probably even get one as a pet if they weren't scary and everything."

"Scary? I thought you were offering to protect me from them?" Michelangelo stretched out his fingers in front of him, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"I lied."

"Yeah, I figured as much," he grinned.

"Okay you got me. I'm not as big and tough as I was trying to make out. I'm kind of weak, but if you withhold chocolate from me, you'll find out what I can do pretty fast. I can go from zero to Hulk pretty speedily if chocolate is involved."

"Mmm, I've always been more partial to pizza but kudos on the Hulk reference."

"Oh yeah. Gotta be Motorino on 12th right?"

"No way. Mario's on 29th."

"Nick's on 94th!" They both exclaimed at once and then let out a laugh. How did she know about that? That was crazy. This girl was perfect.

"I think I'm in love," he said dreamily and then thought to correct himself before she got weirded out. "With pizza. Completely with pizza. Seriously, I dream about what they make up at that place. It haunts my night hours."

"I can understand that. It's a little extreme, but I get it."

He laughed along with her and mentally grasped around his brain for more things to say. "So my phone got knocked out of my hand and I'd been waiting for Donnie – he's my bro – to fix it. And I kept thinking that you might call back any second and you finally did, even though it was more than a second." Why couldn't he just stop talking already?

"Ah, from the Ninjitsu stuff. I get it."

"Yeah, see? You get it!" He said, feeling elated. He hadn't even had to lie about it and Mikey was just sick of having everything a secret. His brothers acted as if they were fine with their secret existence but Mikey just wanted to get out there sometimes, he was itching for someone new to join their circle of people who relate to them. He wanted friends, new friends. That desire never went away for him even though he'd learned to accept what they were.

"Yep, that's what I just said. I get it. So um, this for any particular reason? I mean the playing around with your brothers?"

"Oh, our dad trained us, from a young age. It's pretty standard stuff."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"Come on Maddie, don't tell me _you_ don't know how to use nunchucks!" he joked. "I mean anyone who's anyone knows how to sock it to bad guys."

"Guilty. I'd probably hit myself in the face."

"Oh, I've done that before. It comes with the territory."

"Good to know."

"So whatcha doooooooing?"

"Talking to you," she replied smartly.

"I mean what else are you doing?"

"Oh, I was trying to find if there is anything in my fridge that's edible."

"Ah, I know that feeling. Anything there?"

"I could probably scrape something off this cheese. Wow. I feel like a mouse."

"That's such a stereotype," Mikey said with the same humor in his voice. "How do you know all mice like cheese?"

"Good point, raccoons on the other hand…"

"Not back to this again."

They laughed and remained on the phone for the rest of the night, until Mikey fell asleep with the phone resting on his plastron.

_..._

* * *

To Close: Awww. Should be getting dramatic soon.


End file.
